Improvement in locks



A. HERMANN.

Locks.

Patented oct. 27, v1874.

` l THE GRAPHIc co.vnkfmw-14114.39;` 4| PARK FLAGS. NY.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

AUeUsT HERMANN, or sTAMroED, CONNECTICUT.

. Y l IMPROVEMENT IN LOCKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 156,349, dat-ed October27, 1874; applicationv filed April 7, 1.874.

To all whom t may concern: l

Be it known that I, AUGUST HERMANN, of Stamford, in the county ofFairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and ImprovedLock, and that the following is a full,

clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings and to the letters of reference marked thereon,making a part of this speciiication.

lock, with front plate removed; Fig. 2, the

same, with disk and keyhub removed; Fig. 3, a cross-section of same 5Fig. 4, a front elevation of disk; Fig. 5,an edge view of same andkeyhub5 Fig. 6, plan or top View of tumbler; Fig. 7, plan or top view oftalon and ring 5 and Fig. 8,`cr0sssection of same.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in the several gures.

A represents the lock-case, which niay be of Y any desirable .size andform, equallyadapted to a door-lock or rim-lock. Within the case A'isrmly secured a curb, B. Within this curb is placed a series of wheeledtumblers, C. Each of these tumblers has formed in it a series ofgraduated teeth or projections, a, of irregular size, and slots b, whichradiate from the center of the tumblers; and each of these tumblers hasformed in its periphery a gating, o. These tumblers are placed into thecurb B one upon another, with suitable washers n placed between them,forming a stack of tumblers. The tumblers being thus placed in position,they are held within the curb by a disk, D, with a projection orkey-hub, d, secured to its under side, which is placed within the curband over the tumblers, the key-hub or projection d passing through themto the back plate of the lock. Into the periphery of the disk D isformed a notch or gating, o, and into the projection or key-hub d anddisk is cut a slot, f. Through the projection or keyhub d, and at rightangles to the slot f, is a pin, g. -Surrounding the curb B is a ring, E,and onto this ring is formed a talon, i. Secured to the talon i is afence-lever, F, with a fence, j, thereto attached. Aflixed to the ring Eis a spring, 7c, one end of which engages with the rear` end of thefence-lever F. The bolt and dog of my lock, which are of the ordinaryconstruction, need no particular description, since they form no part ofmy present invention, and they may be constructed and modied as desired;but the construction and arrangement of the tumblers, disk, keyhub,curb, talon, and fence-lever being substantially as above described,their operation is as follows:

The tumblers being placed within the curb, and the disk D, with thekey-hub d placed thereon, the lock is operated by inserting a flat key,G, having a slot, l, cut into its lower end. This slot enables the pin gto enter into it, and serves as a stop for the key. The key having beeninserted, its bit m extends into the slots b in the tumblers, and whenthe gatings of the several tumblers are coincident their slots arelikewise .coincident with each other, and the gating e in the disk D isalso in line with the gatings o in the tumblers, and by turning the keyto the right or left when it is in this way inserted, the talon iengages with the bolt and dog of the same and permits the bolt to bedrawn and withdrawn, as the lock is locked or unlocked. As the keyhub dand disk D are rotated by the action of the key, in the manner abovedescribed, the

ring E is carried around the curb B, by the action of the fence j andfence-lever F, until the talon t' engages with the bolt and dog of thelock, as before mentioned. When the bolt of the lock is thrown out, orwhen it is in the locked position,the disk D and the tumblers C arerevolved in a reverse direction, so as to throw the fence j out of theirgatings. The key is then withdrawn, and any effort that may be made toopen the lock by unfair means will be frustrated, for, if an instrumentor key other than the true key is inserted for the purpose of unlockingit, it will be necesiary to bring the gating of each tumbler coincidentwith the other, and, if the gating in one tumbler should be brought inthe right position, it is probable that in attempting to adjust theother tumblers the instrument would come in contact With some of theteeth or projections a ot' the tumbler just arranged, and again disturbit before the second tumbler has been adjusted, and so on; and when thetumblers are disarranged the slot f in the disk, as also thecorresponding slot-in the loclrplate, will be more or less obstructed bythe projections or teeth a., which Will prevent, to a great extent, theinsertion of a key or instrument into the look. 1t will be observed thatthe disk D may be revolved independently of the tumblers, so that thelock cannot be opened excepting by the action of the true key, the

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A lock, constructed with a series of tumblers, each having va seriesof graduated teeth of irregular size, and gatings formed therein,substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In a lock, a series of tumblers, formed with a series of graduatedteeth of irregular size, in combination with a revolving disk andkey-hub, substantially as and for the purpose described.

A UGUST HERMANN.

Witnesses W. H. TAYLOR, ANDREW CLARK.

